


you grabbed my hand (adorned in wildflower warpaint)

by braigwen_s



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Arranged Betrothals - Discussed, First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25820932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braigwen_s/pseuds/braigwen_s
Summary: Havelock Vetinari and Sybil Ramkin meet for the first time, as children.  Their parents want to marry them to each other; they're okay, probably, with being friends.
Relationships: Sybil Ramkin & Havelock Vetinari
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	you grabbed my hand (adorned in wildflower warpaint)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "I wanted to badly to be brave" by The Wonder Years, which is a song that really fit with my percption of their dynamic when they were kids, then teens, then young adults.

A small, skinny boy dressed in dark green, with straight black hair that barely brushed against his shoulders, was steered into the opulent room by the hands of his father, one per shoulder. A small, chubby girl was facing him, wearing a pink lacy dress and her legs crossed on a large armchair. When she saw the boy and his father, she jumped down from the seat and curtsied, and the boy caught a glimpse of mud on her ankle.

He bowed politely, at the waist, and a broad-chested man wearing red swept into the room, then out, taking his father with him. The door closed behind them. The boy hurried to listen through the keyhole. 

“My name is Sybil,” said the girl, and the boy held a finger up to his lips, busy attempting to eavesdrop. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw her shifting impatiently, attempting to quell herself. After a few moments, he heard what he’d been waiting for, turned away from the keyhole, and took a few steps towards Sybil.

“My name is Havelock,” he said, and they shook hands, both pleased that the other preferred a practical, revealing handshake to the long-distance, formal nods. Her grasp was warm and strong, and she smiled. The corners of his mouth tilted upwards in a reply, and he looked more closely at her. Her skin was a bit darker than his, partially from a suntan and partially natural. There was a graze scab on her wrist. As they broke apart, Havelock informed her of what he’d heard. “Our fathers want us to get married.”

Sybil’s head tilted to the side, looking interested but not, necessarily, surprised. “Would you like that?” she asked, rocking backwards and forwards on her feet.

He folded his arms and frowned. “I think it’s very foolish,” he said. “We’re just children.”

Sybil giggled. “I think they want it to happen when we’re all grown up.”

“Probably,” Havelock admitted. He looked around the room, and the big bookshelves on the walls. There must be a lot of knowledge in them, or maybe just a lot of nonsense. Maybe a lot of both. Sybil stood up on her tip-toes and pulled out a large, square volume. He caught a glance at the cover; it said _Fromme Noble To Lessre Swampe_.

“Do you like dragons?” she asked. “I like dragons.”

Havelock didn’t really – he preferred things that made sense to magic. But he did like to keep his options open, and he enjoyed learning new things. Sybil was bouncing on her feet again, the book wrapped in her arms. He decided it would be okay to bend the truth, just a little, just so that they could get along. “I don’t know enough about them to know if I like them or not.”

“I can teach you!” she said, immediately, throwing the book down on a mahogany coffee table, polished to a fine sheen, and flipping it open to a page. Then she got her reaction under control, quickly clasping her hands back together, her grin dropping. She nodded to herself. “If you want.”

“I would like that,” he said, shuffling closer so he could see the text and diagrams. She shifted the book a bit, so that it faced him as well as her. “Thank you.”

She beamed at him.


End file.
